The butt crack of dawn struck Tuesday morning, and I was up finalizing my suitcase. I got to the airport around 7:50, and realized very quickly that this trip was going to be eventful when I saw the cow herding method of boarding the plane that Southwest uses. The flight there was only half full, and was just a hair longer than 2 hours. With our flight leaving Salt Lake at 9:30, with the time change we would have most of the day to throw fish with the locals. Another trainer, Angela, sat next to the window, and then there was an empty seat before I adorned the aisle.
The flight there was uneventful for the first 2 hours. Just as we should've been landing, Angela and I noticed that the pilot decided to put the plane into a holding pattern. We couldn't figure out why, but for the next 90 minutes we sat in doubt until the pilot finally broke the silence to tell us that he would be returning the plane to Portland because it was too foggy in Seattle to land.
Much to the disappointment of everyone, we turned around and upon arrival in Portland deboarded the plane. While doing so, one of the Southwest workers told us to be ready to leave at any second because if we weren't they would leave us behind. There I waited, listening to the profanity flowing from the mouthes of others like the chocolate river in Willy Wonka's factory!
We were combined with another flight 2 hours later, and boarded the suddenly full flight back up to Seattle. This time we were able to land, and upon doing so, a Yugoslavian guy sitting next to the other trainer, Tyler, asked him in staggered English if he could borrow Tyler's cell phone... Tyler punched in the number that the guy needed to call, and handed him his cell phone. What then ensued was a classic moment amongst people that don't know the slightest thing about cell phones. The Yugoslavian seemed to think that the other party wasn't going to hear him because Tyler's phone is so small, so he compensated by raising his voice. The plane was somewhat quiet when suddenly a yell burst through, "HEY RICHARD, WE A FINALLY LANDED 'ERE IN SEATTLE! " The entire plane now knew that Richard was now deaf!
The city of Seattle is beautiful! It is clean, and a lot of people use public transportation or walking to go places instead of cars. It is also expensive! We looked for a steak under $45 for dinner for well over an hour and a half before we finally found someplace. Being with two individuals that are not concerned with religion, I ended up getting to play designated driver in a city that I knew about as well as the gross domestic product of Zanzibar. A roller coaster ride through the foggy streets of Seattle ensued, but eventually we rolled our PIMP mini van into the parking lot of our hotel in Bellevue.
The next day was a very long day of sitting in a classroom and discussing the new training program. After working 11 hours, we were set loose for dinner, and decided to go for Sushi. Three trainers from Rancho Cordova, CA accompanied us in our decked out mini van, which only escalated the foul language that I had to endure to another level. I was getting frustrated with it, and just when I was about to lay the shmack down, I saw it! Glowing in the darkness amongst the pine trees, there it was!
Towering out of nowhere came the Bellevue temple! I whipped out my cell phone and snapped a quick (hence the blur) photo of it. While my soul was rejuvenated by seeing the light of the temple in an otherwise dark moment, I was so captivated that I almost didn't hear the comments coming from behind about how this was "a big a** church." I took the moment to tell them it wasn't just a church, but rather a temple. They were blown away briefly, and then went back to their profanity.
Knowing that the temple was there, it was the constant thing that I looked to the rest of the week for a brief lifting of my spirits, and each time, it did just that. I came to realize quickly that one didn't have to go into the temple all the time for it to be a blessing in their life. The history of the church shows that at various times it was shown to the early prophet how a temple would bless the community that it resides in. It would be an ensign to the world of God's work.
Christ told his disciples, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).
This experience only furthered what I knew about why we are on Earth. There is a great battle going on, and we are the participants, whether we are conscious of it or not. This battle is between the LIGHT and the DARK. The more we follow God's plan, the stronger our light becomes and the more others can see it as if placed upon a candlestick for the entire house. In Washington, though thick fog set in and one couldn't see more than 15 feet in front of them, I could see a cloud of light penetrating the fog where the temple stood. The harder we work at being clean, the stronger others will be able to see the light through the fog of our lives.
There are many references to light and darkness in the scriptures. Death and hell in their most extreme extensions are referred to as Outer Darkness (D&C 101:91). Eternal life and and the degrees of glory are oft times described through the use of metaphors of light and vision. Even when the Earth was being created, before the matter took shape, the Lord said "Let there be Light" (Genesis 1:2-3).
Perhaps the most riveting reference to light in the scriptures comes from John 8:12, when the Savior states, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, in a book titled However Long and Hard the Road had this to say about this reference and light:
Christ is, according to our revelations, the light of the sun, the light of the moon, the light of the stars and of the earth. Furthermore, he is the light which "giveth you light,... [which]enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings." (D&C 88:7-11)
Light, like truth, forsakes the evil one, that prince of darkness who was cast out of heaven into the earth. The casualty of that rebellious son's fall is glimpsed at least partially in the meaning of his name Lucifer, literally "a bearer of light," a son of the morning. Having lost that fresh radiance of an eternal dawn and destined to dwell in a kingdom without glory (i.e., light), Satan now consciously seeks to take away light from the children of men. We are able to elude such
lifeless desolation, however, because God once again looked upon a darkened world and said, "Let there be light." He gave his Only Begotten Son that whosoever would believe in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
As mentioned above by Elder Holland, Christ is the light of the world, and the reason that the temple is a house of light, is because it is the house of Christ. The more temples that are built upon the face of the earth, the more the darkness of the adversary is discouraged and diminished upon the face thereof. That is why it brought encouragement to my soul on my trip in Bellevue, WA.
